Donguibogam Village Reference Board

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Title Significance of Donguibogam

1. Compiled from a scientific perspective with an emphasis on practicality, the book is a summation of medical knowledge spanning ancient times to the beginning of the 17th century.

2. It lists out the names of 637 locally produced medicinal substances in Hangul, making it easily accessible to common people so that they could easily make use of them.

3. Making references to some 180 medical books from the past to the time of publication, the encyclopedia has amassed and coherently presented the essential information available at that time in an easy-to-understand manner, and it has since served as an essential medical reference for medical doctors in studying medicine and treating illness and disease.

4. Heo Jun defined Korean Traditional Medicine as an independent medicine distinct from Chinese medicine. He referred to Korean Traditional Medicine as ‘Eastern Medicine,’ not just because of Korea’s geographical location of being in the East, but also because of Korea’s independent medical tradition, and this can be regarded as Korean Traditional Medicine’s declaration of independence from Chinese medicine.

5. Having been reprinted over dozens of times in China, Japan, Taiwan and elsewhere, it has contributed to the globalization of Korean Traditional Medicine.

Why is the name 「Donguibogam」 ?

Observing that ‘Korea is located in the Eastern side, but the Way of medicine has been handed down without interruption,’ Heo Jun stressed the independent tradition of Korean Traditional Medicine and called it “Dongui (Eastern Medicine).” Eastern Medicine is termed such in order to distinguish Oriental medicine in Korea from what he called the “Northern” Chinese medicine of Li Gao and the “Southern” Chinese medicine of Zhu Zhenheng. Heo Jun viewed Korean Traditional Medicine as having a separate and equally valuable tradition distinct from Chinese medicine. ‘Gam’ means a mirror, which reflects everything clearly without hiding or leaving out anything, signifying the fact that Donguibogam reflects the historical development of Eastern Medicine without any distortion. Hence, Donguibogam means 'a treasured mirror that contains all the essentials of Eastern Medicine.'

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